SEDRUN, Switzerland (AP) - Swiss engineers smashed through the last stretch of rock Friday to create the world's longest tunnel, sparking a national groundswell of elation over a costly, technically difficult project that has been 60 years in the making. (Scroll down for photos)

Trumpets sounded, cheers reverberated and even burly workers wiped away tears as foreman Eduard Baer lifted a statue of Saint Barbara -- the patron saint of miners -- through a small hole in the enormous drilling machine thousands of feet (meters) underground in central Switzerland.

At that moment, a 35.4-mile (57-kilometer) tunnel was born, and the Alpine nation reclaimed the record from Japan's Seikan Tunnel. Television stations across Europe showed the event live.

"This is the most wonderful moment in my 36 years of tunnel building," Baer said as he paused for breath, surrounded by joyous colleagues in hardhats and bright orange work gear, VIPs and news cameras.

The new Gotthard Base Tunnel is seen as an important milestone in the creation of a high-speed transportation network connecting all corners of Europe.

See shots of Swiss miners celebrating the tunnel breakthrough here:

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A giant drilling machine, nicknamed 'Sissi,' drills through the last bit of rock as miners look on.

A minor stands in front of the drill machine 'Sissi' after it broke through the rock at the final section

'Sissi' finally punched its way through a final section of Alpine rock today to complete the world's longest tunnel, after 15 years of sometimes lethal construction work.

A celebration took place 30 kilometres (19 miles) from one end of the tunnel, and 2,000 metres below the mountains.

By the time it opens for service in 2017, the 57-kilometre (35.4-mile) long Gotthard tunnel, it will exceed Seikan rail tunnel linking the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido and the world's longest road tunnel of Laerdal in Norway.

Minors wave a Swiss national flag and a flag of the Graubuenden canton, right, as they celebrate.

A photographer snaps a picture of an effigy of St. Barbara, patron saint of miners.